Fresh off winning their first sectional title since 2019 and their fifth in nine years, the Lancaster Legends were looking to make a deep run through the state playoffs.
Unfortunately for Legends coach Eric Rupp, his team couldn’t accomplish that goal this year after falling 21-19 in a tightly contested Far West Regional showdown with the Aquinas Little Irish of Section V.
“I'm just proud of my kids,” Rupp said. “They battled to the very end. We had some tough situations there, and we just kept on fighting to the very last second.
“We'll never quit. That's just who we are – we work hard every day, and we attack everything with relentless effort. It was a great year overall.”
Following a fumble on Aquinas’ opening possession late in the first quarter, the Legends struck first when Andrew Moberg punched it in from a couple of yards out. Moberg cashed in again early in the second quarter after Lancaster recovered a fumble on the Little Irish’s one-yard line, and the early 13-0 lead seemed to be a good omen moving forward.
Aquinas, however, would come roaring back due to the efforts of one man – sophomore quarterback/safety Trent Buttles, who found the end zone twice on five and 11-yard runs, respectively. He then made another extraordinary play when Legends quarterback Alex Krupa, on fourth-and-goal at the Little Irish six-yard line, tried to pass for a score that would give his team the lead.
Buttles promptly stepped in front of the errant throw, intercepted it and returned it 94 yards down the sideline for a touchdown to increase his team’s lead. He also came up big on the following Lancaster drive, when after Daniel Ahearn found paydirt to pull the Legends within two points, Rupp decided to try and tie the game.
On the ensuing play, Lancaster attempted an option with John Gang but Buttles tackled the ball carrier just inches shy of the goal line – leaving the game in a 21-19 score in favor of Aquinas.
“It's just a couple of plays here and there,” Rupp said. “We got tackled on the two-inch line on John Gang’s two-point conversion and we also had a game winning touchdown pass called back for illegal man down field. And the pick-six was obviously tough. If one play went differently, I think the outcome would have been in our favor.”
After holding the Little Irish offense to a three-and-out (and using all three of their timeouts as well), the Legends got the ball back near midfield with less than a minute remaining. A few plays later, Krupa attempted a Hail Mary pass to Blake Minsterman with 11 seconds to go, but after the officials conferred they ruled that Aquinas had intercepted it.
“There was a crowd of guys there at the end and I think Minsterman came up with the ball somehow,” Rupp said. “The official said that (Aquinas) had intercepted it at the one-yard line, and the guy’s momentum carried them into the end zone.”
Even though the loss was a bitter pill to swallow, Rupp knows that his roster put forth quite the effort in 2024.
“We had 35 seniors and one of their goals was to win a sectional championship this year,” Rupp said. “Bennett’s been very good and they won the last three, but I’m proud of our guys to get back on top. Winning five out of the last nine championships is a tremendous accomplishment in Class AA.
“They are just a bunch of young men with high character who have really bright futures ahead of them. Our program motto is ‘Building champions for life’, and I know we didn't win today but I'm very confident that they will do great things in the future.”
Feature Image Credit/WNY Football Report
Comments